Starting from July 06, 2021, Fuji film is no longer selling its Fujichrome Velvia 100 in the US market. This decision is not related to the market trends, but rather with environmental protection matters.
The reason for such an unpleasant decision for the film users was the new rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aimed at banning chemical phenol – isopropylated phosphate – which is used in the layers of Fujichrome Velvia 100. Though the amount of this chemical is pretty low, just less than 0.0003%, and Fuji claims it has no impact on the environment. The company is still committed to comply with the national regulation and has decided to stop production and sales of this type of film in the US market.
Despite this fact, Velvia 100 will still be available for the rest of the world. It is another “official” film loss for Americans. We’ll see how it goes.
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